Hear the World Foundation joined with Special Olympics Healthy Athletes once again to provide free hearing screenings to hundreds of athletes participating in the recent 2012 Special Olympics Germany National Games which took place in Munich from May 20-26.

As a partner of Special Olympics, Hear the World Foundation provided each of these athletes with vouchers to receive high quality Phonak hearing aids and is making arrangements for follow up care including fittings and adjustments provided by Phonak hearing professionals across Germany following the Games.

Founded by Phonak, the leading Manufacturer of innovative hearing systems, Hear the World Foundation is a global initiative that raises awareness about the importance of hearing and the consequences of hearing loss.

Five Phonak hearing care experts joined the many health care volunteers in supporting the Special Olympics Healthy Athlete screenings. According to Thorsten Faust, a hearing aid expert and provider from Phonak: “It’s so wonderful to see the athletes competing here in Munich and showing the world what they can achieve, and it’s so rewarding to have them here in our screening venue and to help them hear better.”

Hear the World Ambassador and popular German singer Patrick Nuo added to the success of the Opening Ceremony of the Games by performing the anthem song with two athletes in front of a crowd of 14,000.

The German Games represent the second collaboration between Hear the World Foundation and Special Olympics Healthy Athlete programme, which provides free comprehensive health screenings at all major Games events. The first collaboration was during the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece last summer. The Munich event showed another successful milestone of the partnership between Special Olympics and Hear the World foundation and will be a case model for future collaboration.